The #MeToo movement brought sexual abuse and harassment out of the shadows by encouraging survivors to speak up. It has held individuals small and mighty accountable for vile behavior.

While those who commit wrongdoing are responsible for their actions, the cultural and legal awakening also puts the onus to do more on large institutions. Many of the sexual misdeeds revealed by #MeToo have taken place in business, church and school settings. At the organizational level, efforts to prevent and punish abuse still aren’t happening quickly enough.

Starting Thursday, the Vatican will host a landmark four-day summit on the sex abuse crisis within the Roman Catholic church. While advocates press for changes in canon law and new ways to hold bishops and other church officials accountable for cover-ups, Pope Francis and others caution against expecting much from the event. This will be the first time a pope has brought church leadership together to discuss a scandal that’s been making headlines for 15 years.

No surprise. Institutions often struggle to confront their failings. When faced with a humiliating or legally vulnerable situation, the instinct for stonewalling and secrecy emerges. It’s true for corporations and bureaucracies as well as churches. Catholic communities long denied, deflected and moved offenders to new populations where they preyed again. “We showed no care for the little ones,” Pope Francis has said of pedophilia in the church. Earlier this month, he acknowledged that Catholic bishops and priests had abused nuns in India, Africa, Europe and South America. One encouraging sign: the disclosure Saturday that the pope has expelled from the priesthood Theodore McCarrick, the former cardinal of Washington, D.C., for sexually abusing minors and seminarians.

The Southern Baptist church faces scrutiny for an alleged history of sex abuse and secrecy. The Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News reported this month that offenders, including pastors and deacons, left a trail of 700 victims of sexual misconduct and crime. The church resisted policy change, while some abusers simply were waved along to offend again.

Schools, entrusted with providing a safe space for children, also have not done enough to protect them. The Chicago Tribune’s searing “Betrayed” investigation showed that Chicago Public Schools neglected to adequately check employees’ backgrounds, to report sex abuse when it happened and to deal appropriately and sensitively with young victims. There were failures in hiring, training, discipline and investigations.

Workplaces and entire industries have bowed before bigwigs, ignoring whispers and allowing VIPs to abuse for years, even decades. They overvalue the contributions of a select few and count on financial pressures and tools like non-disclosure agreements to keep victims silent.

The outlines of organizational failure have become familiar, even as new stories emerge. #MeToo continues to topple superstars and CEOs. The groundswell should knock down entrenched systems that shield abusers.

Institutions are stewards of millions of people, some of whom will offend, some of whom will be victims. Organizations need to change their cultures and create stronger mechanisms to punish culprits, support survivors and encourage whistleblowers. The Vatican’s actions this month are signs of progress there. But every day institutions don’t move aggressively to do the right thing places more people in jeopardy.